In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your
nearest polling booth here. More than 1.1 million Ohioans have requested
absentee ballots.
Secretary of State Jon Husted appealed an early voting
ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling by the appeals court said
all Ohioans must be allowed to vote on the three days before Election
Day. Previously, only military personnel and their families were
allowed. The appeals court ruling also passed the final decision on
whether voting should be allowed during those three days to the county
boards of elections and Husted.
Husted also sent out a directive Thursday telling board of
elections employees that they can only notify absentee voters about
mistakes on their ballots through first-class mail. Previously, email
and phone notifications were allowed.
Rev. Jesse Jackson was in Cincinnati yesterday in part to
criticize Husted and other Republicans. Jackson accused Ohio’s state
government of engaging in voter suppression. The reverend’s claims have
some merit. In moments of perhaps too much honesty, Republican aides
have cited racial politics as a reason for opposing the expansion of
in-person early voting. In an email to The Columbus Dispatch published
on Aug. 19, Doug Preisse, close adviser to Gov. John Kasich, said, “I
guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to
accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout machine.”In a new video, Josh Mandel, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate,
dodged answering a question about whether he would support
the auto bailout for five straight minutes.
More preliminary data for Ohio’s schools and school
districts will be released next week. The data gives insight
into how Ohio’s education system is holding up.
The Ohio Board of Education also promised to pursue the
state auditor’s recommendation of making the student information
database in-house, which Auditor Dave Yost says could save $430,000 a
year.
“We are holding our own feet to the fire,” promised Bob
McDonald, CEO of Procter & Gamble, at P&G’s annual meeting. The
Cincinnati-based company had a rocky year, and the harsh questions
at the meeting reflected the troubles. McDonald promises he has a plan
for growth.
In response to last week’s Taser report, local police departments haven’t done much.
President Barack Obama and opponent Mitt Romney were in
Ohio yesterday. Obama drew significant crowds at Ohio State University,
while Romney drew a new chant of “four more weeks.” Ohio is considered a must-win for Romney, but Obama is currently up by 0.8 points in the state.
A new report from the left-leaning Urban Institute says
Obamacare will lower health care costs for small businesses and have
minimal impact on large businesses. But another report says Obamacare
will raise costs for mid-size businesses. A new ad shows that the presidential election has probably jumped the shark:

As Mitt Romney gets ready to attend a $2,500 a plate fundraiser at downtown’s Great American Tower, the local Democratic Party chairman says the presidential hopeful’s economic plan “would do nothing to create jobs now.”Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke released a statement this afternoon describing why he believes a Romney presidency would be disastrous for middle-class Americans.Meanwhile, a group of community leaders led a protest outside of the East Fourth Street office building as attendees arrived for the fundraiser. The protest was organized by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) District 1199, which represents more than 30,000 health-care and social service workers across Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.“Mitt Romney holding $2,500 per person fundraiser at the Great American Tower is a perfect example of exactly who he is and who he represents,” said Becky Williams, SEIU’s district president, in a prepared statement. “While Romney is hobnobbing on the rooftop with his wealthy donors hosted by American Financial Group, ordinary Ohioans are struggling to find work and provide for their families.”The co-host for the fundraiser is S. Craig Lindner, co-president and director of American Financial Group Inc., whose total compensation in 2010 totaled $8.3 million, according to Forbes magazine.“Nothing Mitt Romney says can change the fact that he spent his career as a corporate buyout specialist who put profits over people and lined his pockets by outsourcing jobs, closing down plants and laying off workers,” Burke said.“His 59-point economic plan would do nothing to create jobs now, fix America’s economy or help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure. His tax plan would benefit the ultra-wealthy and do nothing to help middle-class families in Greater Cincinnati,” Burke added.In preparation for Romney’s visit today, the Democratic National Committee pointed out that the investment firm once led by the candidate, Bain Capital, rejected a government offer to invest in General Motors (GM) during the 2008 financial crisis.Romney has said on the campaign trail that he opposed the government bailout of U.S. automakers because the private market would have provided loans so GM and Chrysler Corp. could go through managed bankruptcy. But sources told The New York Times that Bain turned down an offer to help GM at the time.“To go through the bankruptcy process, both companies needed billions of dollars in financing, money that auto executives and government officials who were involved with Mr. Obama’s auto task force say was not available at a time when the credit markets had dried up,” the article stated.It added, “The only entity that could provide the $80 billion needed, they say, was the federal government. No private companies would come to the industry’s aid, and the only path through bankruptcy would have been Chapter 7 liquidation, not the more orderly Chapter 11 reorganization, these people said.”

More than 20 Occupy Cincinnati protesters last night received citations for staying at Piatt Park after its official closing time, a process which included warnings by police and then some peaceful ticketing before police left the occupiers to their business. CityBeat has launched a page dedicated to our ongoing coverage of the protests, including a live feed of #occupycincinnati and #occupycincy hashtags.

Protest over corporate money in politics will take place in Cincinnati Saturday

The Occupy Wall Street movement plans to occupy Sawyer Point this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., one of several protests planned in other cities since the protest over corporate money in politics began more than three weeks ago in New York. (UPDATE: The protest has been moved to Lytle Park due to an already scheduled event at Sawyer Point.)The Cincinnati Enquirer did its usual muckraking on the subject, determining that the movement's “goals are vague” and then linking to a story quoting a member of the movement describing its goals quite succinctly:

The same people who organized the local Tea Party last month are planning a march from Fountain Square to Cincinnati City Hall on Tax Day, April 15, so I think it's reasonable to broach the topic again. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the latest edition of "Angry White Conservative Pop Quiz," the game show where most contestants would rather demagogue than participate.

Outraged at the continuing financial meltdown and flailing government fixes, the American public has once again formed a circular firing squad and started shooting. We can't help ourselves. In our heavily partisan political climate, we're conditioned to fight our neighbors, whom we refer to as "rivals" and "enemies."

If you were to ask most Americans, there's little doubt that a sizeable majority would say overhauling the U.S. healthcare system is more important than bailing out the major banks. A recent study concluded that having the United States convert to a single-payer national health insurance system would result in a net increase in cost of $63 billion — or about six times less than what the federal government is spending on the bank bailout.

I feel tiny and insignificant as I see new developments with the federal government's bailout of failing corporations. After hearing government officials comment daily about committing billions of dollars to this company and that industry, I'm numb. The amount of money being thrown around is impossible to comprehend, as is the fact that it's my money and your money and — most importantly — our unborn grandchildren’s money. Yet we have no say in how it’s being spent.